A strange, even richer umami flavor pulsed from the pot. Zhao Tiansheng moved it aside to rest. Meanwhile, the crucian carp broth simmering in another small pot had reduced to one-third, just as he had hoped.
He lifted out the cotton mesh bag containing the minced carp meat and bones, having squeezed out every last drop of umami flavor. The scraps could only be tossed into the compost bin to be used as fertilizer later.
At this very moment, Zhao Tiansheng’s preparations were complete.
Unlike the Lotus Fragrance Venison Soup, which needed time for the ingredients’ flavors to slowly meld and achieve a unified yet distinct layering...
...his dish could be finished in one final burst of cooking now that the prep was done.
Seeing him motionless once again, the crowd was baffled.
Elder Wei, however, seemed to have sensed something. He couldn’t help but exhale his smoke a little faster.
’This kid...’
’To call him shrewd would be an understatement. He’s almost too clever for his own good!’
Among the group of Traveling Merchant Priests, only the young man surnamed Tian understood why Zhao Tiansheng had paused again. He couldn’t stop a cold sweat from breaking out on his back.
’This is bad!’
’This local Sacrificial Priest... he’s a real force to be reckoned with!’
Their low-voiced exchange went unnoticed by outsiders. For those with Cultivation, controlling one’s voice so that only certain people could hear was an all-too-simple matter.
"Second Brother Tian, what’s wrong?"
The burly man surnamed Guo scratched his head, looking anxious as he waited for an answer.
The others also looked concerned.
"Yeah, Brother Tian, what is it?"
"That local Sacrificial Priest just paused for a moment. Why are you so tense?"
"You weren’t this worried even when the aroma was so potent."
Wiping his lips, the Traveling Merchant Priest surnamed Tian collected his thoughts.
"A strong aroma could be due to the ingredients, or it could just be the nature of the dish. It’s hard to declare a winner before we’ve tasted anything."
"And look, the judge from the Non-human World hasn’t stirred at all, right?"
"But for that young Sacrificial Priest to wait like this... it means he’s waiting for Brother Li to finish."
"This is someone who can precisely control his own cooking, who understands his dish’s strengths, and who even has the spare mental capacity to watch his opponent."
"How could someone like that not be cause for concern?!"
Hearing his analysis, the other Traveling Merchant Priests realized for the first time that this task they’d taken on was not as simple as it looked.
It seemed... they had picked a fight with someone way out of their league.
’I knew it!’
’It was too good to be true!’
The burly man surnamed Guo stomped his foot. A muffled THUD echoed, revealing his terrifying strength.
Now, they could only hope their leader could win this Sacrificial Decree. At the same time, they realized a Sacrificial Decree like this was exactly the kind of opportunity a traveling merchant who crossed states dreamed of!
...
’It’s almost ready!’
Watching the thick soup bubbling in his pot, which was finally releasing the desired aroma—a faint scent of lotus rising with the savory fragrance of meat—the Traveling Merchant Priest surnamed Li immediately began the final step, a secret known to very few. He added threads of dried lotus flower to the soup.
At this point, the Lotus Fragrance Venison Soup was essentially complete. All that remained was the finishing touch to enhance its fragrance and textural complexity.
Just then, strange sounds reached his ears—BANG! BANG! BANG!—like exploding firecrackers, followed by the continuous WHOOSH of moving air!
Then, he saw an extraordinary stove appear before him!
Two looping Flowing Water Talismans created constant streams of water on either side of the stove. To the left, a Frost Talisman chilled one of the streams. In the center was a huge leather pipe connected to a bladder, which was attached to a wooden puppet that continuously pumped a bellows.
Thanks to the assisted airflow, three ordinary Kitchen God Talismans were producing an unbelievably high heat.
Zhao Tiansheng held an iron wok nearly a third of his own height. He set it on the stove, and it quickly glowed red-hot. The roaring flames lit up his face, revealing a flush of excitement.
"This is it!"
What Zhao Tiansheng had made wasn’t actually that complex. It was just this world’s version of a Cannon Furnace.
Though it lacked a bit of stability and the temperature wasn’t perfect, it was still far better than a normal stove.
And this kind of stove was perfect for... ’stir-frying’!
Never expecting to see such a device, the Traveling Merchant Priest from the Divine Land stared wide-eyed. After all, the technique of ’stir-frying’ had only been popular for three hundred years.
In truth, many places had specialized stoves for stir-frying, but he had never seen one quite like Zhao Tiansheng’s—so crude, yet so brilliantly innovative.
With his experience, he could only be certain of one thing!
The fire from this stove was... incredibly fierce!
...
"Oh... Tiansheng, you finally got this thing to work?"
Chi Xuan wasn’t surprised by the new gadget Zhao Tiansheng had produced. He knew Tiansheng had tried to build it many times before.
He’d just never managed to achieve the perfect balance.
It looked like this time, however, he had finally succeeded.
"Yeah. Before, my Cultivation wasn’t high enough. My Star Essence couldn’t leave my body, so I could never get the heat control just right."
"But now... it’s a different story!"